The Marauding Four
by EarthMagic
Summary: AU OOC What would've happened if Hermione was more fun loving when she was born, and then went to Hogwarts? What would've happened if in that universe, Harry Potter was just another normal (ish) kid with parents and siblings, and Neville Longbottom was the boy-who-lived? What if Ron got taught the art of pranks before he went to Hogwarts? First fanfic. Normal!Harry Fun!Hermione
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I don't own Harry Potter, otherwise I would live off of Nutella.

 **The Grangers House.**

When Hermione Granger got her Hogwarts letter delivered to her, she was so excited, she almost fell out of her seat.

"A school to do MAGIC in!" she shouted after Professor McGonagall had explained. (McGonagall was quite surprised, most muggleborns are quite hesitant to the fact that magic is real, or nervous that they will be moving away from their parents for so long! Not bouncing out of their seats shouting at you!) The Professor looked at her pocket watch and sighed quietly. She still had 10 more minutes with this bundle of energy.

Dan and Emma Granger looked at her with amused, if annoyed, faces. They had seen this time and time again. An adult tries to have a conversation with Hermione, and gets overwhelmed with the amount of energy their little one had. It suddenly gets very amusing when you're not the one the energy is being directed at. They were slightly annoyed with the way Hermione was talking to her new Professor, but that could be dealt with later.

Professor McGonagall pulled herself together, and answered, "Yes, dear. You can do magic." She then proceeded to cast a spell at the coffee table in the middle of the room, and it suddenly transfigured itself into a French bulldog. Hermione clapped her hands and got out of her seat to dance around the lounge room. Her unruly hair was flying everywhere. Professor McGonagall suddenly looked extremely annoyed.

She still had 7 more years to spend with Hermione Granger.

 **Godrics Hollow, Harry's Bedroom.**

When Harry Potter finally got his Hogwarts letter, he was expecting it.

Lily, his mum, had told him all about it. James, his dad, had told him that everything on that list was very important to pull all the pranks he was going to do.

Harry nodded to himself slightly, and put it up on the wall in his bedroom. The wall was covered in potion instructions, pages from his charms book that was falling apart at the seams, and transfiguration papers that he had wrote late at night, all for the good of pranks. Harry was sure he would do at least okay at his subjects, and would make sure he was practicing his Quidditch skills.

Harry was quite excited for his first year of school. Although he already had lots of friends, like the Lovegoods nearby, he knew he had to make lots more friends at school to get the perfect pranks done. And also, he did want some people his age to hang out with.

Harry heard a knock on his bedroom door, and shouted, "Come in!" before his little sister Violet walked in. Violet had black hair from James, although it was straight, and had gotten green eyes from Lily. She was only 5, although she was scarily smart.

"Harry!" She yelled as she crashed into him. Harry held her tight, and gave her a big hug. That was another thing about Violet. She liked hugs. "Yes Violet?" Violet looked up from in Harry's arms. "When are you leaving us?" she asked quietly. Harry bent down to Violet's height, and tried to explain. "I'm leaving for school in a month Violet. But that doesn't mean I'm leaving forever! I'll come back every Christmas, and I'll be back for a couple of months next year too!" Violet sniffed softly, and nodded. Harry sighed softly. "Oh, Violet. Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen. We can go have some lunch with mum and Daisy."

Violet gingerly took Harry's hand, and walked out of the door to go and get lunch.

 **The Burrow.**

Ronald Weasely had gotten his Hogwarts letter.

And instead of going to his dad about this, he just felt like he needed to go and talk to Fred and George. Usually that was a stupid move, as they always seemed ready to prank you if things went wrong in a conversation. But today, Ron just seemed to have a feeling.

He walked down the stairs to the door two below his, and knocked. When nobody answered, he pushed the door open slightly. He saw something on the floor and gaped. There was an advanced charms book on the floor, and an advanced transfiguration, and many other books and things that were way above the level of a third year at Hogwarts.

He knew, Percy showed Ron (and the rest of his family) his letter when he was in third year.

He heard someone swear from behind him, and saw Fred and George standing behind him. Fred looked over at George, and Fred seemed to decide to say something. "It isn't what it looks like!"

"It's all for the love of pranks!" George continued.

Ron thought for a second. If Fred and George, the people who almost always got bad marks, decided that they should read an entire series of advanced books to make pranks, maybe they weren't as bad as they seemed! Ron had made his mind up.

"Could you maybe… teach me how to prank?"

 **Hannah Abbot's house.**

It was breakfast in the Abbot house when Hannah's Hogwarts letter came.

The Tawny Owl delivering it came swooping in from one of the bigger windows in the dining room, and straight onto Hannah's arm. Mitchel Abbot looked amusedly at his red-headed daughter. "Well don't just sit there staring! Open it!" Hannah blushed slightly, and focused her hazel eyes on the letter. She opened it, and the two other people at the table fell expectantly silent.

After a couple long minutes, Hannah suddenly jumped from her seat, and did a little victory dance, celebrating in her own little way.

Tahlia Abbot looked disparagingly at her daughter. "I think I can guess what it says, but could you fill me in?" Hannah nodded shyly, perhaps realising they had just seen her dance, but filled them in. "It-It says I can go to Hogwarts!" Hannah punched her hand into the air slightly, a little less enthusiastic than before.

Mr and Mrs Abbot looked over at each other, and began laughing hysterically. They may only have one child, but she was, in their minds, absolutely perfect.

 **Diagon Alley**

Harry watched Lily Potter, his Mum, tap the correct bricks on the dingy wall behind the Leaky Cauldron with her wand, and watched it open dramatically. He would never get over how amazingly cool it was.

Violet was looking happily at the wall, and Daisy was almost jumping up and down with excitement. He had to remember his siblings had never been here before, Harry thought to himself. Even though he had only been once, he could almost remember every shop.

James, Harry's Dad, shepherded them through the opening in the bricks, and into Diagon Alley, stopping at the ice-cream parlour near the entrance.

"Right. Violet, you have to stay with Mum, and Daisy, that goes for you too. Harry, you'll be coming with me, so we can get all of your school supplies. We all good with that?" A chorus of "Yes, dad!" was heard over the thrum of the people. James nodded. "Good!" He motioned towards Harry with his right hand. "Shall we go?" Harry nodded, smiling on the inside, knowing they were going to be doing much more than the normal school supplies.

Harry walked in to Ollivanders wand store, handing his new owl, Hedwig, to his Dad, wishing himself a silent good luck. He had heard that Mr. Ollivander was a bit of a crazy person, but you would most likely get your perfect match of a wand.

Harry took a breath, and rang the bell at Ollivanders desk. The old man walked out of the back of his store, holding a gnarled looking wand. He stepped up to the front desk, and Mr. Ollivander began to speak.

"What would you like today, Mr…. Potter, am I correct?" Harry nodded, slightly creeped out that a random knew his name. "I would like a wand please." Harry asked politely. Ollivander looked delighted. "Of course! Wand matching, my favourite task." Mr. Ollivander then motioned towards his arms. "Which one is your wand arm? Your right arm I presume?" Harry nodded, intrigued by the tape measures suddenly popping out of nowhere and measuring him. Mr. Ollivander looked slightly puzzled, and snapped out of his daze to inform Harry, "I'm going to go look for a wand for you. I'll be right back, Mr. Potter." He walked briskly to the back of the store room, grabbed a wand box off of the shelf, and handed it to Harry.

"This is Acacia, 11 inches, Dragon Heartstring. Just give it a wave."

Harry waved the wand, breaking an expensive looking vase in the corner of the room. He had the wand snatched out of his hand, before being handed another. "Cherry Blossom, 13 and a ½ inches, unicorn hair." Harry waved it, turning Mr. Ollivanders hair bright pink. Harry put a hand over his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing.

The wand was snatched, and it kept on going until he had broken 18 chairs, a couple of tables, and accidentally turned the bell on the front desk into a pineapple. Ollivander sighed, and handed him another wand. "Dragon heartstring, 9 inches, Ash." Harry waved it, and a wave of sparkles ran through the air. Ollivander clapped his hands. "Brilliant! Now, that'll be 8 galleons."

 **September 1** **st** **, Platform 9 and ¾**

Harry was standing with his family near the Hogwarts express, giving a hug to his mum, giving a goodbye hug to Violet and Daisy, and having words of encouragement whispered into his ears by his dad.

Hermione was bouncing up and down, looking forward to running through the brick wall to 9 ¾, while her parents were trying to get her to take an extra jacket and her toothbrush.

Ron was walking towards the train with Fred and George beside him, making jokes and having a good time, while trying to wave to the rest of his family.

Hannah had tears in her eyes, giving one last hug to her mum and dad.

They all got onto the train, and found themselves in a compartment together.

 **Hogwarts Express, on the way to Hogwarts.**

Harry looked at the people around him. There was the gangly figure of a redhead with a large smile, a bushy-haired, brown eyed girl bouncing slightly in the corner of the cabin, and another blonde haired girl with hazel eyes quietly sitting in the opposite corner. They were all looking around expectantly, as if waiting for something to happen.

So Harry spoke.

"So…uh…how are we all doing today?" The red headed boy looked up from the sandwiches he was.. uh... smiling at. "I'm doing well. Mum finally got the memo I hate corned beef! So I've got a lettuce and egg sandwich! I'm Ron, by the way." The boy looked quite happy about his sandwich, so Harry didn't comment, and just nodded. Ron looked towards the bushy-haired girl sitting next to him, and she bobbed her head up and down, looking increasingly excited, as if she was about to burst.

Ron motioned with his hand towards her. "And how are you?"

Then she burst.

"I've learnt lots about Hogwarts. I can even do a couple of spells! Would you like to see?" Harry and the red headed girl in the corner of the cabin nodded expectantly, and Ron looked warily at her wand, as if were almost scared of it. The girl pointed at Ron's shoes, and almost whispered, " _Reparo!"_

The second hand shoes on his feet suddenly stitched themselves back together, and Ron looked at the brown-eyed girl with amazement. "Could you maybe…teach me that?" She bounced her head happily, and suddenly said, "I'm Hermione, if you wanted to know." Hermione went back to teaching Ron, and Harry shuffled over to talk to the blonde girl in the corner.

"What's your name?" He asked her quietly. She looked up at him. "Hannah…Hannah Abbot." She said softly, tears trickling quietly down her face. "Harry Potter." Harry replied back. Hannah held out her hand, and Harry shook it softly, as if it was about to break. Hannah wiped her tears again, and gave a small sniff.

Harry suddenly had a great idea to get Hannah out of her shell. "Hannah! Do you think you could do something for me?" He whispered to her. Hannah looked up from her hands. "Yes? What would you like Harry?" She said replied quietly back. "Could you tie Hermione and Ron's shoelaces together quickly?" Hannah nodded, a small mischievous smile spreading across her face. She leant down to the victims shoes, while Harry got Hermione and Ron's attention.

"Hey! Guys!" Harry said to them. Hermione looked up from her spell-work, and Ron smiled widely at Harry. Ron's clothes looked brand new, not to mention spotless! "What do you think? Hermione also taught me a cleaning spell!" Harry put his thumbs up, and Hannah climbed out from underneath Ron and Hermione.

They all turned towards the door that had just been opened. "Want something from the trolley, dears?" An older lady was waiting outside the train door with all sorts of sweets. The wizarding candy was laid carefully on the trolley, and Harry could see all his families' favourites.

Violet's favourite was Liquorice Wands, Harry's mum loved Chocolate Frogs, and his dad liked to put Bertie Botts every Flavour Beans in brownies, and other sweet things his mum ever decided to make. Harry liked Sugar Quills as well as Daisy, so they'd always fight over who got the last one.

"Could I have 3 Sugar Quills please?" The older lady nodded, and grabbed 3 packets of Sugar Quills from the trolley. "Three Sickles please." Harry fumbled around in his wallet for money, and the old lady and he exchanged the things in their hands.

Hermione suddenly spotted the word Chocolate on one of the packets, and smiled even more widely than usual. She moved forward to ask the lady for some, when she and Ron came tumbling down onto the floor. Hermione squealed, and then began laughing. Ron huffed slightly, and then burst into laughter. Hannah looked worried, and then when she realized no-one was hurt, she giggled loudly. Her laugh was clear, but bright, and Harry was rolling on the floor laughing. Even the old lady giggled slightly.

Hermione grabbed her Chocolate frogs, and then they settled down to talk for the rest of the trip.


	2. Chapter 2

My lawyers have just let me know that I do not own Harry Potter. :(

 **Chapter 2**

When the four children stepped off of the train, they looked up in awe (Or fear, in Ron's case) at the large, hairy man bellowing loudly above them. "FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS TO ME!" Harry had been told about him, the Groundskeeper of Hogwarts, but he was almost nothing like the descriptions at first sight.

Hermione bounced up the path towards him, Harry, Hannah and Ron followed her, hoping she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Hermione looked up at the large man, and held out her hand towards him. "Hello! My name's Hermione! And you are?" The large man looked down at the tiny girl bouncing slightly beneath him, and smiled widely. He put his large hand over hers, leant down, and introduced himself. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of the Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts." He nodded towards the children behind Hermione, and Harry smiled. This was more like the Hagrid he was told about! Hagrid straightened back up, and continued to bellow. "FIRS' YEARS FOLLOW ME!"

Harry, Hermione, Hannah and Ron got onto a small wooden boat, and began gliding across the cool water.

Hannah broke the silence. "So, what house do you want to get into?" Hermione looked thoughtful for a second, and then answered. "I want to go with all of you guys. I've read about all the houses, and none of them seem too bad. Even Slytherin has _some_ redeeming qualities!" Harry, Ron and Hannah nodded in agreement. They all wanted to be in the same house. Hermione continued. "I also read about the sorting process. It goes in alphabetical order, so Hannah will be first on the sorting list." Hannah nodded slowly as she got the point of what Hermione was saying. "So… whatever house I get into, you guys could just ask whatever it is that is sorting the houses to be in my house. Correct?" Hermione nodded.

And then the beautiful castle people called Hogwarts came into view.

Everyone in the little wooden boats ooo-ed and ahhh-ed, and for once in her life, Hermione was speechless. Ron looked up, over-awed by the beautiful lights up above him.

The boats floated up to the shore, and the four small children followed Hagrid up the stone path to the castle.

They stopped in front of a large, wooden door a little inside of the castle. Hermione recognized McGonagall standing sternly at the door, her hair tied up in a tight bun. Although, she seemed to look a little put out. (Secretly, McGonagall remembered the hyper little girl she had to teach this year, Hermin? Hamione? Well something like that. The point was, she wasn't looking forward to it at all.)

The Professor looked up from the list she was reading, and looked disapprovingly at all of her new students. Hagrid stepped out from behind the group of people. "Ere' they are Professor." McGonagall nodded, and motioned for him to go. She turned back towards the small group of students. "Welcome to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, your home for the next 7 years." She turned her gaze to a smaller boy at the back of the group, seemingly trying to fade out of existence. "I expect you all to try your best at school. Now, back to matters at hand. Through this door," The Professor motioned to the gigantic door behind her, "Is where you will be sorted into your new house. Now, your house will be like your family at Hogwarts, so we expect you will get along nicely. I will be back in a couple of minutes. Talk among yourselves."

McGonagall left the room with a flourish of her green cloak. As soon as she left, the small reception room erupted with the noise of talking. Harry turned to his friends beside him to begin talking, only to find that the entire room had gone as silent as quickly as it had erupted.

He had missed part of the conversation, but a freakishly blond boy was berating the smaller boy that McGonagall had fixed her gaze on earlier. "-And you know what? You're barely a Squib, you blood traitor!" Harry felt his blood burn at the weird blonde's words.

He motioned to Ron, Hannah and Hermione, and they stepped in front of the poor boy being picked on. Hannah stepped up to the prat with a murderous look in her eye, and poked the blond boy in the chest.

"You quit picking on him! It isn't any of your business how much magic you suddenly decide he has! As if you even know him! He was just standing here quietly, and you know what you decide to do?! You decide to pick a fight! Who do you think you are?!"

She said all of this so fast, it was hard to pick almost impossible to pick anything out of it. The small boy paled a bit at someone standing up for him, although The Gigantic Prat (As Harry then decided to call him.) looked utterly outraged that Hannah had even thought of it. "I am Draco Malfoy!" Ron sniggered slightly, and The Gigantic Prat turned quickly to him, and began talking in a more high pitched way than usual. "You think my name's funny do you? And who are you?"

Ron gulped, and looked down at Malfoy, trying to look intimidating. "I'm Ron Weasely." Malfoy sneered, a thing he seemed to do a lot. "I should've guessed. Red hair, freckles and a stupid face." Ron took a deep breath, and then realised his teachings from Fred and George. He could prank this idiot later.

"Whatever." Ron said, and walked back to his friends. Harry patted him on the back, and Hermione's hair bounced approvingly. Hannah did the mature thing, and stuck out her tongue.

There was a sound from the front of the room, and everybody turned to the front of the room. McGonagall looked over the students with a frown. They did the right thing, but in the most boisterous of ways. "Mr. Malfoy. I shall be taking points from your house when you get sorted. Miss. Abbot, next time, keep control of your tongue." Hannah blushed, and nodded furiously, while Malfoy glared witheringly at his Professor.

McGonagall nodded sharply. "Let's go." She opened the gigantic wooden door, and everybody walked in.

There was another chorus of ooh-s and aah-s, while the new first years took in the realistic starry ceiling. Hermione leaned over to Hannah. "It's only enchanted to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." Hannah looked only slightly interested in the bit of information as they walked towards the front of the Great Hall, and to the sorting. "Two straight lines please!" Yelled McGonagall, and so, the first years obeyed.

The Professor waved her hand towards a dirty old hat sitting on a slightly worn down stool. "This here is the sorting hat. You will put it on your head when your name is called, and it will put you in the specific house that suits you." There was some nervous chatter around the students as McGonagall conjured her list for the sorting. She looked up. "Abbot, Hannah." Hermione gave her a hug, Harry and Ron whispered well wishes for her. Hannah walked up determinedly to the stool, and pulled it over her ears.

The hat began to whisper to her. "Hmm… Interesting… Very interesting. A determination to do well… quite shy though… extreme loyalty towards the people you love most…. A strong sense of justice… better be… HUFFLEPUFF!" The last word was shouted to the hall, and the Hufflepuff house cheered loudly. Everyone else clapped politely.

The names went on for a little bit, with a short haired girl going to sit with Hannah in Hufflepuff.

Until… "Granger, Hermione?" McGonagall looked around questioningly, as if hoping she wasn't there, or disappeared, or that she'd gotten the name wrong, which was entirely possible.

Hermione skipped up to the stage, and shoved the hat excitedly on her head. The hat almost immediately shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Hannah cheered loudly. The short haired girl next to her was also pretty animated.

More names went by, and then somebody called Longbottom was called up. It seemed to be the small boy hey'd saved before. The hall erupted into whispers. Harry thought this guy must be pretty famous, but his mum and dad never gossiped, so he had no idea who this Longbottom kid was.

The kid walked to the stage, and then it clicked. That was the kid they'd helped from the jaws of The Gigantic Prat? That Longbottom kid was the Boy-who-lived!

There was a hush as everyone waited to see where the kid would be sorted. After about 4 minutes, the hat shouted "GRYFFIDOR!" And the Gryffindor house was screaming their heads off. There were two red heads singing and dancing seemingly saying, "We've got Longbottom!" over and over, and frankly, it was quite annoying.

After a few more names, Harry was ready to go to sleep. If only he could be sorted already!

"Malfoy, Draco." Was called out by a sour-looking McGonagall, and Malfoy almost managed to look excited while he strutted confidently to the hat. He shoved it down on his head, and- "SLYTHERIN!" was shouted within a millisecond. Harry straightened up from his slouch, knowing his name would be called out soon.

Harry waited a bit more, and then his name was called out. He closed his eyes for a second, and then went up to the hat with a pat on the back from Ron.

He popped the hat on his head, muttering the words, 'Hufflepuff," over and over again. The hat whispered in his ear. "Ambitious… Loyal… Mischievous… More than a little bit sneaky… I think you would do well in Slytherin." Harry felt his heart plummet, but he kept on chanting "Hufflepuff!" although louder this time, trying to convince the hat to put him with his friends. The hat sighed. "Hmm… Determined as well…"It warmed on his head, and a couple of seconds later, the hat screamed out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the hall erupted into cheers again.

Harry sat down, relieved, with Hannah, Hermione, and the short haired girl who introduced herself as Chelsea.

Next, it was Ron's turn. It took almost 5 minutes, but eventually the hat called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Ron plopped himself down next to the others, seemingly relieved to be with his new friends.

There was only one more student left to go, a person called "Zambini, Blaise", who was sorted into Slytherin.

And with that, and a couple of strange words from the Headmaster, (Oddment, Blubber, Tweak and Nitwit, if Harry remembered correctly.) the feast began.

A/N

Hi! If you've got any ideas for the story, or any comments that could be used to improve it, that would be great.

Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Ron leaned back in his chair, full from his delicious meal. "I could get used to this!" He said to a less full Harry. Harry nodded. "Yep!" He then leant close to Ron and whispered, "Don't tell my Mum this, but it's even better than her cooking!" Ron laughed, and it seemed like Hermione heard as well, because she was chuckling as she tried to grab one last pudding before they disappeared.

Albus Dumbledore stood at the headmaster's podium, and tapped his glass with a spoon to signal his Headmasters speech, and Hermione's pudding disappeared, along with the rest of the food at the Hufflepuff table. Hermione sighed, and sat back down on the bench to listen to the old Headmasters crazy ramblings.

Albus cleared his throat, and began to speak in the slightly whimsical way he had. "The most brilliant of evenings to all of you! To our new students, welcome! To our old, welcome back! Now, onto our important notices. The third floor corridor is off limits, unless you wish upon yourself a most horrible death."

Ron was bewildered, and evidentially, most of the others on the Hufflepuff table were as well. Hermione almost choked on the water she was drinking, and Harry and Hannah looked at each other with an eyebrow raised. What was he thinking?

None of the professors were very impressed either. They all thought that he was crazy to say it, since obviously it was almost a call for the students to go there.

The crazed Headmaster continued his spirited speech. "Anyway, Mr. Filch" He waved his hand towards the back of the room, where a grumpy looking man and a cat that looked slightly evil were standing at the back of the room. "Has, no doubt, got a limitless list of banned items. If you would like to see the full list, look to Mr. Filches door. Anyway, now is not the time for chatter! It is the time for all the children to go and see their new rooming! Prefects, take your house to the specified place. Off you go! Pip, pip!"

And with that, everybody scrambled to their feet, hoping they wouldn't get trampled by the older years.

A tall boy was standing at the end of the Hufflepuff table. "Alright everybody! Follow me to our lodgings!" The boy was followed by a pink haired girl, and everybody in front of Hermione, Hannah, Harry and Ron.

The four children followed the other Hufflepuffs excitedly, until they stopped in front of a bunch of barrels. Harry frowned slightly. Didn't his dad say that the common rooms were opened by a portrait, and a password?

Ron was quite annoyed. How were they supposed to get in through some barrels? He was the first Hufflepuff in his family for years. "This better be worth it." He mumbled to himself.

Hermione was the only person not to be discouraged, apart from Hannah. She was still bouncing about, as usual, humming a song to herself.

The pink haired prefect gathered all the first years around the barrels after the other years had gone through. "Right, so to get the secret entrance to open, all you have to do is sing a song. If you get it wrong, it will most definitely spray you with Butterbeer. But otherwise, you're pretty much good. The song never changes, so don't worry about getting stuck outside the common room for hours for not knowing the song, unlike some other houses." She seemed to do some sort of fake cough into her hand, saying something like, "Gryffindor." The Prefect straightened up from her fake coughing and continued, amongst many giggles. "Alright so, this is the song. Listen carefully, because otherwise you'll get it wrong."

The first years went silent, and so the girl cleared her throat, and began singing in a very respectful tone.

 _"_ _You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, hard workers worthy of admission! Badgers are for the fair and driven!"_

She finished up the song, and the Butterbeer barrel turned into some kind of sliding door. The pink haired prefect seemed to suddenly remember something before shuffling the firsties through the door. "Oh! And by the way, my name is Tonks."

As all the children shuffled their way into their new common room, a couple of gasps were heard as they took in the surroundings. Tonks led the way, showing them the several rooms they now had to hang out in. She pointed to a small dancing cactus on top of the fireplace in the main common room. "That's Bob, our resident cactus that has calming properties, according to Professor Sprout, our Head of House."

Hermione nodded her head, looking significantly calmer than before, (Or was it just that she was tired?) and seemed to be messily scribbling notes in a notepad.

Tonks motioned to a door next to the fireplace. "This is where we will be meeting Professor Sprout so she can introduce herself to you. Any house meetings will also be in here as well. Alright. Follow me." She opened the door and all the kids walked in, although Hannah almost had to be shoved through into the meeting room.

Professor Sprout was sitting in a comfy looking armchair in the back of the room. She waved happily at the students, and motioned her head towards the floor. Everyone got the meaning, and sat cross legged on the floor. Hannah yawned, and leant on Harry.

The Professor looked proudly at her new charges and her flyaway grey hair stuck out of her yellow witches' hat. "Alright! So I'm sure Nym-" Tonks glared at Sprout, and the Professor quickly changed what she was saying.

"I mean Tonks, showed you around pretty well. So I'm just going to introduce myself. My name is Pomona Sprout, but for now you can just call me Professor Sprout. I teach Herbology here at Hogwarts, and you would usually have me on a Monday." She then pointed sharply at a pair of staircases behind her. "The right staircase is the boy's dorms, and the left, can you believe, is the girl's dorm."

The Professor got a few giggles, and she then shooed them off to their dorms. Harry and Ron got a dorm with Ernie McMillian and Justin Finch. Hermione and Hannah were in a dorm with Susan Bones.

Harry flopped onto his new wooden bed, letting out a deep breath. Ron sat on his bed, putting up his Chudley Cannons posters. Ernie sat on the edge of his bed, staring at them both. Harry sat up, and looked at Ernie.

"What'cha looking at?" he said. Ernie stuck his nose in the air, and looked away. "Nothing." Harry sighed, and flopped back on his bed. "Are you sure?" He said. Ernie glared at him. "I said, NOTHING."

Ron looked at the two of them, and remembered another one of his more fun lessons from Fred and George. Sticking something in between people arguing. He grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it in the middle of the room.

Green smoke billowed from the middle of the room. Ron threw himself under the covers of his bed, knowing that the smoke would probably start smelling soon.

Harry caught on, and shoved his head under his doona. Ernie stood in the middle of room, coughing. Harry laughed, and then swallowed some smoke. He began coughing and laughing at the same time.

Ron smiled, and went to sleep after all of the smoke left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer

I have just been told that I unfortunately do not own Harry Potter, other than this idea.

*Yells out to Lawyer*

"Are you sure?"

Lawyer nods, and points to a chart which reads, "MAKE YOUR WORD COUNT HIGHER, STUPID"

Well, I definitely don't own Harry Potter.

 _A few days after the sorting-_

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hannah sat underneath the willow tree near the Black Lake on a scorching hot day.

Harry yawned, being extremely tired after all the homework that was assigned to him, and only him, because of the dreaded _Snape_ , which was accordingly due tomorrow. It was an 18 inch essay on why Moonstone and Huckleberries don't go together in a potion. (Because one of them was a muggle fruit, adn would most likely explode.) He was frankly quite annoyed over Snape's/Greasy's ("He's a professor Harry!" Hannah had said.) treatment of him yesterday.

 _*Flashback*_

 _The greasy professor swooped into the room, his bat-like cloak billowing behind him. The old, rusty wooden doors shut closed behind him, and he stood, looking slightly disgusted, at the front of the room. Harry thought he smelled a smoke machine as the room seemed to be enveloped in some green smoke, almost exactly like the dung-bomb Ron had thrown yesterday at Ernie._

 _Harry chuckled at the thought, and suddenly he realised, a little too late, that Greasy (as Harry decided to call him, but only in his head, if only for the fear that Greasy may overhear.) had been standing in silence, seemingly waiting for something. Harry then sighed softly at the realisation that it most probably was him._

 _Greasy opened his crooked mouth, and fired another string of words out. "Well, Potter, we haven't got all day, what's the answer?" Harry umm-ed and ahhh-ed, while Hermione, who was sitting next to him, looked like she was about to fall out of her seat from raising her hand and jumping around way too much. He decided to try something random. "Yellow. The answer to your question would-would definitely be yellow." He was slightly disappointed his voice cracked in fear._

 _Snape looked just about ready to explode when Hermione put her hand higher in the air (If that was possible.) and said even more frantically than usual- "The answer to your question is that Moonstone and Huckleberries wouldn't work together because the Huckleberries are a muggle bred and raised ingredient." Hermione took an extremely deep breath, and Greasy looked even angrier now, and turned his crooked nose to face Hermione. Harry heard a couple people whispering to each other in amusment, and Hermione looked absolutely terrified. Harry had to do something._

 _He stepped out from his desk, and in front of Hermione. "Did you want me?" Greasy glared furiously at Harry, and then billowed back to the front of his dark, smoke smelling classroom._

 _"_ _15 points from Gyr- Hufflepuff." Greasy said, continuing with his writing on the board, although kept glaring at Harry continuously through out the rest of the class._

 _*Flashback ended*_

Harry sighed loudly, and then registered that while he was flashbacking in his head, someone had asked him another, most probably important, question. He'd learnt his lesson about answering randomly. "Pardon?" Hannah looked moderately exasperatingly at him. "I said, what are your parents like?" Harry was startled. Almost everyone seemed to know about his mum and dad without him telling them anything. Although that didn't seem to be the case with Hannah. "Well, I'm sure you already know heaps about them, from reading the _Daily Prophet_ and all that. So, maybe I should get to know you better?" Hannah flushed, and she knew that what he said was true, so she gave in. "Uh. Well. My parents? Um. Their names are Tahlia and Mitchel, if you wanted to know."

Hannah paused for a minute, feeling embarrassed, since her parents weren't as famous or interesting as anyone else's. Hermione nodded at her, gesturing for her to continue. "And, um, well, my mum's a muggle. She's a- she's a florist. My dad's a wizard, and he works with my mum in her shop. They're very happy together, and um, technically I would be a Half-Blood, and we live very close to London."

Hermione nodded again, her fuzzy brown hair flopping into her book. "My parents are Dentists. They run their own clinic in New Hampshire, and we live just up the street from it. I'm apparently a muggleborn, according to wizards and witches alike." At Ron's confused look when she said dentists, she flicked her hair out of the book, and described them. "Dentists are basically healers or medi-witches for your mouth."

The realisation dawned upon Ron that the muggles world and the wizarding world weren't all that different from each other, and he nodded furiously at Hermione, saving that bit of knowledge and resolving to ask Hermione a couple of things about the non-magical world in private later.

As Ron was readying himself to tell them all about his _interesting_ , if ever loving family, when Greasy decided to let himself bat-cloak / billow over to them. (Ron and Harry had argued earlier before about whether he was secretly a bat or moth, before Hannah broke it up with the argument of, "He's a professor Harry!")

Snape stopped right in front of Harry, casting a glare over the four students. "What are you doing outside today?"

The four children looked at each other, trying desperately not to laugh. Harry spoke up. "Well. Uh- sir, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a lovely day today." He said, motioning to the perfect, cloudless sky above them.

Greasy glared again at Harry. "Well, _Potter_ , I don't know if you've noticed, but you have a disrespectful tone of voice. 5 points from Gyr- _Hufflepuff_." Greasy said with disdain, obviously failing miserably to remember his original point against them. "Oh, adn also, get out from under this tree." Or not.

Ron looked to protest against the unfair point-taking, but Harry pulled him to the ground as Snape turned on his heel and walked off. "Tell us about the plan." Ron opened his mouth in surprise, but pulled out a perfectly labelled plan of attack (and/or prank) against the grease ball, A.K.A Snape.

A/N

Thanks for you guys support for my writing! Any ideas for how to prank Snape would be appreciated, otherwise who knows how it's gonna turn out? (Probably crappy.)


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer-_

I don't own Harry Potter, since I have no money. (literally)

*Points to Lawyer*

*Lawyer holds up a sign that says "0 money"*

Told you.

 **The next day-**

Harry and Ron rushed to the transfiguration classroom, both of them wishing that they had the foresight to have bought one of the magical maps from Chelsea's older cousin, Rhiannon.

Harry opened the door quickly, only just avoiding Ron banging his head on it. They ran to the front of the class, where there was a desk open, and waiting for them, since it was saved by a stack of books from Hermione and Hannah.

The two of them sat down, both huffing and puffing dramatically. Hannah rolled her eyes, and Hermione was bouncing up and down, laughing her head off.

Harry observed a cat on top of McGonagall's desk, licking her paw. Ron noticed that McGonagall wasn't here yet, and then decided (quite stupidly, in hindsight.) to comment on it. "Lucky that the Professor isn't here, she'd probably kill us if we were late!" He made a growling sound, and his hands slashed through the air like a leopard.

As Ron did that, behind him the cat that Harry had seen earlier was somehow transforming into the tight-lipped lady that Harry and Ron had seen before the sorting. McGonagall was wearing bottle-green robes, and looking even more displeased than usual. Her grey hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she walked up right behind Ron, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Ron turned around, expecting to see Hannah or Hermione, but instead had his smile wiped right off his face by a furious looking Professor. "How-How? Wh-What is this?" He said, extremely confused.

McGonagall pointed to her watch, and tilted her head. "That's funny, I thought the class started 5 minutes ago. But obviously you and Mr. Potter thought differently. Maybe if I transfigured one of you into a pocket-watch it would help?" Harry shook his head, feeling brave in the face of a familiar thing. Enraged people. "No miss, we got lost. The castle can be quite a prat when it wants to. We had 4 staircases turn aroun-"

Harry was cut off by a silencing charm. McGonagall shook her head, and motioned towards Harry. "Your father was quite good at transfiguration, although he got in more trouble than it was worth. I do hope you're more like your mother than you seem."

She waited a couple more minutes, but then cut off the charm, and Harry stumbled to his seat next to Ron, feeling quite dizzy after being held under a charm for such a long time.

McGonagall waved her fir wand, and the boards cleared themselves of whatever lesson she had before, and wrote, all by themselves, what they were doing in the lesson today. Although, Ron thought, it was somehow backwards. Maybe she had gotten the charm wrong? And then he wiped that thought from his mind. It was more likely a punishment for two of the students being late.

Hermione held up her hand before McGonagall could start talking, and the Professor sighed mentally, remembering the girl. She pointed her wand at her, signalling for her to talk.

"What are we doing today Professor?"

The dignified Professor in question almost felt like crying, and held up her hands to signal for the room to be quiet, not that it was needed. Like Greasy, McGonagall had total command of her classroom. "Today, Miss Granger, if you had let me talk at all, you would have known we were going to be turning matchsticks into needles."

Hermione nodded her head happily, and Hannah almost burst into laughter at the look of slight disgust on the Professors face.

Furball, (as Harry then decided to call her, being the only one in the class who had noticed that she was an animagus like his dad.) then demonstrated how to do it, with the incantation, "Acus Vera" and a rare smile at Harry, who had somehow managed to do it before everyone.

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Hannah were making their way to the Great Hall with Tonks, who was the one assigned to show firsties where to go today, when a brown owl flew jerkily down to them.

It looked like it may pass out, so after it had given them its letter, Hannah softly popped it onto her shoulder so it could rest.

Harry ripped open the brownish envelope, and then handed it to Hermione, who looked surprised to have even gotten a letter.

As she read it, her smile lit up the room, until even Tonks had a small smile on her face. Hermione finished the letter, and then walked off.

The other three were quite confused, and Tonks called out for them as they ran after Hermione.

They caught up, just after she had left the Hogwarts doors, and was walking towards a small wooden hut on the edge of the apparently 'Forbidden' forest.  
Ron walked besides her, trying to get some answers, but she ignored him, and kept on walking towards the hut.

Hermione knocked on the gigantic door, which was not proportionate to the rest of the house at all, and they heard some barking before, "Bac' Fang!" and the door shuddered open to reveal… "Hagrid!" Hermione jumped into the big man's arms, and he patted her head, looking a bit confused. "I thoug' I told you t' come later?" Although he didn't seem to mind.

Hermione shook her head, and told the others to come inside, where some tea was boiling in a pot over a fire, in a secluded place where it seemed it wouldn't burn the entire place down.

Hagrid waved all of them down to seats, and took the boiling pot and plopped it down onto a large table nearby.

Hagrid pottered around while Fang sat at Hannah's legs, looking quite comfortable just sitting there waiting for food or something else. The big man then put something that he called tea in front of them, and then sat heavily down onto the last chair available.

"So, how's school?" Hagrid started, and the conversation they had lasted for an hour, talking about Filch, Snape, the morning with Furball, and other things that had happened in the short time they were there. Harry told them all more about his parents, one of them a famous Quidditch chaser, the other a charms teacher at a preschool for magical children.

Hagrid eventually sent them away, looking quite pleased with himself as he did it. "Off wit' the lot o' ya!" The four laughed and waved to Hagrid, and Fang licked Hannah's face, seeming to like her.

The four children walked up to the castle just after dark, and this only seemed to be the first pleasant afternoon with Hagrid of many.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter!

*Points to newly named lawyer*

Hit it, Bob!

*Bob does a beautiful tap dance, ending with fireworks spelling, SHE DOESN'T! In the air*

See! Why does nobody ever believe me!

The four children, joined by Chelsea, were sitting lazily in the library, flipping sleepily through some charms books. Hermione yawned, and her fuzzy hair flopped everywhere, including into Ron's face. Ron batted at the invading thing, but then gave up, settling to just hold a book in front of it.

Why were they there? To try and come up with some sort of a name for the mismatched little band of misfits they were. Chelsea was trying to get some homework done, but yeah, the rest of them were researching.

"How about… Sassy devils?" Hannah called from the corner, and then was immediately shushed by the librarian to her (not) horror. Everybody shook her head, and they kept researching.

"Maybe… The Beatles?" Ron said, and Hermione sighed, "Nope, copyrighted. It's a muggle band from London." Everybody sighed heavily (apart from Chelsea) and they moved on to researching some more.

"Perhaps… no… too weird… Ah! How about we use the name Safety Jackets?" Hermione thought out loud, her head (more like hair, Ron thought.) bouncing up and down in excitement. Everyone cringed, even Chelsea, who didn't even really know what they were talking about. "Maybe your sheltered childhood has led to a disorder where you can't come up with good names?" Ron suggested. Hermione slapped him playfully on the arm. "Prat!" She said loudly, before they once again got shushed by Madam Pince.

Harry suddenly got an idea. "My dad, you know, James, had a small group of people that they called the Marauders!" He then waved his hands lavishly at the people before him, and said dramatically, "I now christen us- 'The Marauding Four!'" The others clapped their hands, and it even seemed like Pincers (as Harry had decided to call the- uh- interesting librarian.) had a nicer expression on her face. Only slightly, mind you.

They then got shushed again by Pincers as her patience ran out.

 _A week later._

The Marauding Four sat around a crumpled piece of paper in the middle of the Badgers den.

Harry spoke importantly, as if he was actually operating a mission. "Operation 'Bacon Grease' starts tomorrow at exactly-" "9:30 pm" Hermione interrupted, scribbling notes in a small notepad she always seemed to have in her pocket.

Harry nodded at her, deciding that it was good for the team to know the plan. "Naturally, you are correct. It will start at 9:30 pm, sharp, so if you're not here, we'll just assume that you don't want to do it, and continue devoid of you, and whatever services you provide." Ron snorted at the liveliness and responsibility Harry was radiating. Harry then pointed abruptly at the map in front of them.

"This is where Snape is at 9:30 at night. So, while he's in the Snakes Common, we will go and wrap everything in his potions room in bacon. Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded, and they all left the cosy little room to prepare for the prank that would shock Greasy to his core.

At exactly 9:30 pm, the four kids set off from the Hufflepuff common room, clutching bacon, eggs and pans provided from the kitchen. (A helpful little suggestion provided by letters from Harry's dad.)

They finally got to the threatening door to Greasy's ugly black office. Hannah pulled her wand out, and muttered "Alohamora, et in ostio quiet." Before the door clicked quietly open. (Translation from Latin. Alohamora, and be quiet door.)

Hermione had found a spell that would make the door be quiet, since they all had noticed that Alohamora was impossibly loud when you wanted to be unnoticed.

The four snuck swiftly through the threshold of the potions masters den. Ron pulled out the bacon he had been holding, and set it onto a table that seemed to have nothing on it. Hannah stuck the eggs onto the pans that Harry had brought, and they all chanted gently together, with their wands pointed at the small breakfast menu, "Facies enim pulchra sis pinguibus culina!" Then the small selection of eggs, bacon and pans made something that would enrage Snape in a way that had most probably never been seen before. ****** The next morning, the smaller marauders sat innocently at their house table in the Great Hall at lunch, while the older students told stories to incredulous students of the potions room that was bright and sunny, with the addition of a lovely sizzling breakfast for every person who sat down at a bench. "The funniest bit," Said Chelsea's cousin Rhiannon, who was sitting with a clump of other older students who all seemed to be talking animatedly to their friends. "Was when Snape walked in, and he didn't seem to know what had happened. He then stood there incredulously, and one of the Gryffindor's transfigured his robes into some overalls and a farmer's hat. We were all dismissed for the day, since he couldn't seem to figure out who had done it. Whoever did do it, I would give my utter and total respect to, since nobody's pranked Snape that good, and not gotten caught since the rein of the Weasley twin's last year!" A couple of other students nodded their heads in agreement, and Hermione couldn't help it, she threw her head back, and giggled at the top of her voice. All the other Hufflepuffs just assumed blindly that she was laughing at the vision of Greasy, wearing a farmer's hat, and laughed along with her. There was only one thing that didn't seem to go to plan. Snape was staring right at them.

A/N-  
Sorry about the story before this update, certainly just a glitch.

What do you think will happen next? Will they get in trouble? Was Snape just staring at them for no reason?  
Remember to review and give me your ideas- OR ELSE!

Now, time to answer some reviews!

-Chise Sakamoto-

I think they will become animagus, if the people who read the story decide to review and tell me what they should be, otherwise I have no idea. (Jk, they will be eventually.)


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclamer_

 _I_ _solemnly_ _swear that I do not own Harry Potter._

Harry wasn't exactly what you would call nervous about Greasy. He had inherited his father's confidence in pulling off pranks, so he just went around, business as usual.

And that is how he had ended up in the Hufflepuff den, supposedly doing some Transfiguration homework on Animagi, since McGonagall knew that he knew what she was, but instead was trying to bribe an older badger to get some things from Hogsmede for him.

To anyone else, they almost would've looked funny. Harry was motioning crazily to all the money he was going to give the older student, and the student, who was apparently called Greg, was shaking his head determinedly.

"We were told that buying younger students lollies and things would only make you hyper. And McGonagall-" Greg tried arguing, but was interrupted by a confused Harry. "Don't you mean Furball?" Greg almost laughed, but held his stoic expression, and a battle of words ensued between them again.

Greg sighed, knowing then that the battle was lost when Harry smiled triumphantly, and shoved even more Galleons to him. "Fine! I'll buy you the things you need. Just write a list, and get it to me before the next Hogsmede weekend.

Harry pumped his fist in the air, and Greg laughed, feeling a bit better about doing something he most probably wasn't supposed to.

A week later, and Harry had what he was looking for. He had Sugar Quills, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs and a few packets of Liquorice Wands. (He did love Violet.)

He was spotted going up to his dormitory by Ron, and Ron had decided that he was going to come up with him.

"Ron, could you go get a quill and some ink out of my bag?"

While Ron was doing that, Harry was searching for some parchment, or some paper, which Hermione had shown him last week. Harry was fascinated by the smooth and simple surface of the paper. Ron was fascinated by it, and by the other thing that was shown to them by Hannah, the pen.

He found some parchment, and Ron popped the ink and quill on the desk. "So you're writing a letter to your parents, yes?" Harry flushed slightly, and nodded hesitantly. He was an 11 year old boy, he didn't want anyone thinking he missed his Mum and Dad!

Ron nodded, his lips pursed in thought. "That's good of you, mate. I've got 6 other siblings, and only 2 of them aren't at school. Mum and Dad get lonely sometimes when we're not there."

Harry motioned to the table behind them, where he had the quill, ink and paper. "Do you want to help me describe our awesome prank on Greasy? I'll charm it later so that only my Dad and my Uncles can see it. My Mum used to be friends with the git, so she'd probably go off her head."

Ron chuckled, and dragged a chair from beside his bed over to where Harry was sitting. Harry grabbed the quill, and began writing.

 _Dear Mum, Dad, Violet and Daisy,_

 _I really hope that you're all doing well at home this year, and that you're having a good build up to Halloween. (Tell me what your costumes are in your next letter, Violet and Daisy!)_

 _To Mum, I've already figured out what McGonagall is, and I've got some extra homework on the animagus, so maybe later on I can be an animagus like Dad, Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus!_

 _To Dad, I've charmed this bit of the parchment so that Mum doesn't see what I'm telling you here. If she looks, it'll look like I've talked about going to the Hogwarts Kitchens, which is a part of this little pranking story._

 _I've decided not to tell Mum because it involves Snape, the potions teacher who was totally in love with Mum before you got married._

 _Alright, so I've got three other friends, and we've named ourselves the marauding four, after your little rag-tag team._

 _And after Greasy/Snape insulted me and one of my friends, Hermione Granger, a muggleborn, in class last week, we all decided to get a little revenge._

 _We went down to the Kitchens using the tips you gave us, and got some eggs, bacon and a pan._

 _We then went down to Greasy's dungeon hangout, and Hannah Abott unlocked the door using some spell she found in a book when we were doing some research._

 _Ron and Hermione placed the bacon, eggs and pans in random places in the room, and we did some complicated spell thing that Hermione had found in a book when she was talking with Ron Weasley._

 _We left-_

"Oh!" Ron said, interrupting Harry's train of thought. "Why don't you add the farmer bit that Rhiannon said?" Harry nodded, although he was slightly annoyed.

 _We left the room, sneakily creeping back to the Hufflepuff den._

 _The next morning, the senior Hufflepuffs had Potions with the Gryffindor's._

 _Rhiannon, a cousin of one of my other friends, was there at the time, and she described it like this:_

 _"_ _The funniest bit was when Snape walked in, and he didn't seem to know what had happened. He then stood there incredulously, and seemed totally in a rage. After a while of him standing there with his mouth open, looking furious, one of the Gryffindor's transfigured his bat robes into some overalls and a farmer's hat. We were all dismissed for the day, since he couldn't seem to figure out who had done the kitchen prank._

 _So that's that._

 _To Daisy,_

 _Hogwarts is brilliant! You have a teacher that turns into a cat, magic to learn, places to go, houses to be sorted into. I'm sure you'll love it just as much as I do._

 _To Violet,_

 _I'll be home soon! It's almost Christmas, and I'm sending some Liquorice Wands with the letter, make sure to hide them from Uncle Sirius. He seems to have a taste for them._

 _Love,_

 _Harry._

Harry sighed a small, "Thanks Ron." Before going up to the Owlery, and sending the letter and a small package of wizard sweets with it. He felt lighter than he had in weeks.

A/N

Sorry for the last chapter, I've updated it now, so this chapter will make more sense if you read that.

On to a matter of importance! Next chapter it will be Halloween, so that naturally includes the troll that Quirrel calls in! I, for one, believe that since Hermione made friends on the train this time, she will not be in such dire straits. So she wouldn't be in the bathroom for the entire day, and the whole thing would be avoided.

So, I need your help. Who could either:

Get Hermione so upset that she would go hide in a bathroom all day.

Another character Harry and co would be able to help out of the troll situation.

Remember to Review! It helps this little story to continue!


	8. That One Time Hermione Almost Got Eaten

_I've decided to name this one-_

 **That One Time Hermione Almost Got Eaten By A Troll.**

 _Halloween day-_

Hermione and Hannah were walking from class a couple of weeks later with Harry and Ron. "I need to go to the toilet!" Hermione announced loudly. A couple of people stared at her, and Hannah giggled.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Hannah offered kindly after she stopped giggling. Hermione's hair bounced from side to side. Thankfully she answered back, otherwise nobody would have knew what she had answered. "No thanks."

Hermione then jauntily took her books, and went off to the toilets.

If only she had noticed the older student following behind her, her entire day would have turned out differently.

Hermione washed her hands, and flicked them, stifling a yawn. Today had been boring. No broom practice, and they had double potions and Herbology later.

She walked slowly out of the toilets, and she was suddenly pushed into a wall by a tall girl in the first year. Judging by her uniform, she was a Ravenclaw.  
The girl didn't look very friendly. "You know what, you bushy-haired know-it-all?" Hermione gulped, but didn't answer. The girl gave her a menacing glare, and then continued. "You beat me on the test for Charms. How dare you!" She looked like she was about to slap Hermione. Hermione blinked furiously, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her.

The girl looked over her shoulder, and then went on. "I will sabotage your tests until you start getting lower scores. Do you understand me?" Hermione's hair bobbed up and down. The Ravenclaw shook her head. "By the way, don't go to any teachers about me. I will know, and you will not be happy with the consequences."

Hermione nodded again. The girl turned her head, and stalked away.

Hermione went back into the toilets and leaned against the sinks. She could remember this happening at her primary school a lot, but she was never targeted.

* _Flashback*_

 _Hermione was walking to her classroom just before the last lunch bell went, when she heard a small scream from somewhere. Hermione went to investigate._

 _She walked to the brick building where all the toilets were, and almost gasped when she saw what was happening._

 _A smaller girl, who had short blonde hair, was being pushed up against the wall by another girl who was looked several years older than her. The older one was screaming insults at the short girl, and the short girl had tears rolling down her face._

 _Hermione ran to get a teacher._

 _*Flashback ended*_

Hermione was determined not to be like that girl, powerless and afraid to tell anybody.

But on the inside, all Hermione really wanted to do was curl up under the sinks, and cry.

Hannah was getting very worried about Hermione. It had been almost half an hour since she had left for the toilets, and it was almost time for them to go to Herbology.

She looked around for someone to help her, and she saw Neville was talking quietly to Harry and Ron. They had all become a bit closer to the boy with the lightning scar, and although nobody really talked about it, Neville still felt he was in their debt for helping him with The Gigantic Prat / Malfoy. Hannah ran up to them. "Hermione isn't back from the toilet yet, and I'm getting worried about her. Could you help me find her?"

Harry nodded worriedly, and Ron and Neville nodded too. They all set off through the corridors together, determined to find Hermione.

Hannah opened the door to the toilets that Hermione had entered almost half an hour before. Harry and Ron stopped by the door. Hannah gave them a confused look.

"We're staying here, so we can keep -uh- look out." Harry said. Ron snorted. "Yeah right mate, you're staying here because you're too afraid to go into the girl's bathroom!" Hannah gave out a sigh, and stepped into the bathroom.

Hannah and Neville, who hadn't really cared about that they were going into a girls bathroom, arrived to find Hermione breathing deeply, almost hyper-ventilating, while leaning heavily on the sink.

Neville rushed over to her, looking slightly green over this entire situation. "What happened?!" He gushed before he could stop himself.

Hermione seemed to be making a decision, and she straightened up from the sinks, and motioned for them to leave the girls bathrooms.

Harry and Ron followed them up to wherever Hermione was going, slightly confused by this extremely different girl. No bubbliness, no bouncing hair. She always seemed to be determined when doing homework, but not like this, Ron thought.

The four of them, minus Neville, since he had to go to his next class, ended up in Professor Flitwick's office, with only Hermione and Hannah knowing what seemed to be going on. Hermione for once looked solemn.

She told Flitwick what had happened to her, and what the Ravenclaw girl (Of which he was Head of House) had looked like.

Flitwick was situated on a chair piled high with books. "So, from what I've heard, you beat a girl on a test, and now she's determined to sabotage every test you do that's better than hers."

Hermione nodded, and Hannah felt like she had to add something to the story. "We found Hermione breathing heavily, almost hyper-ventilating near the sinks. I know that you don't want to believe that one of your Ravenclaws has done something wrong, but if you will just help us, we would all be forever grateful."

Everyone in the room (except Flitwick, obviously) nodded, determined to help their friend with the problem.

Tiny, as Ron had decided to call him, (He had caught on to the nickname thing that Harry had started.) took his glasses off, and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He was over 70 years old, after all. "I'll see what I can do." He said.

Ron pumped his fist in the air, and Hannah and Harry jumped around, dancing strangely. Hermione smiled slightly, still feeling disheartened about the whole thing.

Hermione grabbed the other three, and pushed them out of Tiny's office. Hermione stayed a little longer.

She pushed a small package over to him. "Happy birthday Sir. I hope you like the Sugar Mice I got you. Sorry it's a bit late."

Flitwick smiled, and shooed Hermione out of his office.

Harry and Ron were ecstatically dressing up for the Halloween Feast, even though it probably was a bad idea, when an owl flew through the door. "Ah! My parents have finally been kind enough to send me a letter back!" Harry said excitedly.

He grabbed the letter off of the owl's leg, and then sat down on a chair to read it. It seemed like there was only Violet's response? _Strange._ Harry thought, and then shrugged.

(Remember Violet is only 5)

 _Dear Harry,_

 _You askd what I was dresing up as for Halloween, and unlik Daisy, who thinks she's not dresing up for Halloween, I'm dresing up as a prinses! And we're going to Uncle Sirius house to hav dinner!_

 _Love, Violet._

Harry smiled, and showed the letter to Ron who patted him on the back, and positioned him in front of the mirror to get him into a properly ridiculous costume.

Hermione was less cheerful. She was walking around with Hannah and Neville, wasting time until the Halloween feast began.

Hermione needed to go to the toilet. Badly. But she didn't want to go, because she was now completely sure that the toilets she went to when the girl showed up and threated her were completely and utterly tabooed. Hermione really needed to go though, and she was tossing the idea of actually not caring, and just going to the toilet. She shrugged mentally.

"I'm going to the tabooed toilet!" Hermione announced, quite proud of herself for not caring about the fact the toilets were technically tabooed.

Hannah sighed worriedly, "Are you sure? Because me, Neville, Harry and Ron have to going to the feast now. You can't hold on?" Hermione shook her head. Hannah waved her hand in submission. "Fine, go on. You know where to find us."

Hermione fast walked to the toilet.

 _At the Feast-_

Hannah sat down by herself at the Hufflepuff table, watching Neville go back to Gryffindor.

Suddenly there were people whispering and pointing, and there was a flash of light.

Harry and Ron walked in, surrounded by balls of light shaped like pumpkins, and dressed in ridiculous suits that looked like fireworks. (They got some older years to do the light pumkins for them, after fifty tries of doing it themselves.)

Dumbledore gave out a hearty laugh, and the rest of the great hall at least smiled. (Apart from Malfoy. He looked quite sour, in fact.)

The two sat down next to Hannah with mischievous smiles, before noticing Hermione wasn't there. Harry frowned at Hannah. "Didn't you say you were taking care of her?" Hannah shrugged non-committedly. "She was busting to go to the toilet."

Ron shook his head, and then Dumbledore stood up to start the feast, making him almost forget all about Hermione.

Hermione was washing her hands when she heard it.

A grumble, and then a roar. It chilled her to the bones, and she had a thought to get out of there, and the rest of her body readily agreed.

She saw something purple pass outside of the doorway, and then it was gone.

 _Interesting_ she thought, and then realised if she didn't get moving, she would be whatever that was' chew toy.

Ron yawned, and plopped his feet on the table, only to have them brushed off the table by a passing Professor Sprout. He smiled charmingly at her, and she rolled her eyes, walking ahead.

In an instant, the smile was wiped off his face, as the Great Hall's doors flung open, to reveal a dramatically panting Quirrel. Hannah noticed Neville keel over on the other side of the room.

Quirrel rushed into the middle of the room, sweat beading on his upper lip, and almost screamed, "There's a Troll in the Dungeons. Just thought you'd like to know." Before he fainted almost as dramatically as he panted.

The Great Hall went into an up-roar. Dumbledore stood up, and obviously did something to his voice before shouting for silence. Everybody sat back down, feeling quite embarrassed.

Harry looked at Ron, and Ron looked desperately at Hannah. Hannah nodded her head, signalling that they should probably go save Hermione, before she got eaten by a troll.

Hermione ran out into the corridor, before smacking into something- meaty?

Hermione looked up, always the inquisitive, before realising that she should probably run from the Troll that was currently standing right in front of her.

She ran the opposite direction, before a headache stopping her progress. Hermione rubbed her head, before hearing a voice from behind her.

"Dammit Hermione! A headache is what happens when you smack into a Troll, or try to battle it, if you really wanted to know." She recognised it, and cried out, before giving Ron a hug.

Ron smiled, and grabbed Hermione's hand, before running further, and finding Harry and Hannah waiting for them.

They all stuck together until they finally got to the Badgers Den, and went to sleep, ready for another long day at Hogwarts.

 _A/N_

 _Thanks for the review JeanandBilius! Really helped me get those brain cells churning this time!_

 _Alright, I need some serious review feedback on this chapter. I'm not sure whether I made it a tad too serious, or changed Hermione a bit too much. I hope that you'll give me some honest reviews, and until next time, my dearest readers!_


	9. Hagrid Sucks at Keeping Secrets

**About 2 months later**

Harry shoved the last of his clothes into his trunk, sighing dramatically to Ron and flopping onto his bed after another uneventful week at Hogwarts. Ron chuckled, and tried to sit on the pile of clothes in his trunk to try and get them to finally fit in his trunk. He failed, and some of his clothes flopped out of the trunk as he was thrown out of it, and on to the floor.

Harry rolled his eyes and held out his hand to help Ron up onto his own bed.

"So Ron, what are you doing for the holidays this year?" Ron brightened up visibly at the comment. "Oh! I'm going to Romania with Mum, Dad and Ginny!" Harry raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Who's this Ginny you speak of?" Ron gagged. "She's my sister you idiot!" Harry burst out laughing, and Ron still looked slightly green from the suggestion of Ginny being his girlfriend.

And that's how Justin and Ernie found them. Ron still kind of looked like he wanted to throw up, so Justin led him out of the room, and into the toilets next door, and so the adversaries Harry and Ernie were left in a room by themselves.

Harry immediately straightened up from his position on the floor where he had been laughing. "So. How are you Mcmillian?" Although it was posed as a friendly question, the forced smile Harry had on his face didn't reach his eyes. Ernie glared at him, deciding that silence was the best defence here. Harry frowned at the silence given, and then shrugged. He didn't really care about what this twat thought about him.

Hannah whistled happily as she made her way down to Hagrid's hut by herself. The others were all busy, and since Hagrid had invited them, who was she to refuse him?

She walked up to the door of the small hut Hagrid lived in, and knocked on the door. "Hagrid?" Hannah called into the house. The door opened slightly, and the giant's face peered out. "Who's- oh, it's jus you Annah! Come on 'n. I've got you a trea' today!"

Hannah furrowed her eyebrows. Hagrid's surprise's always seemed to involve rock-cakes for some reason, and none of the children were especially fond of them.

She stepped carefully inside, on the lookout for anything suspiciously rock-cakey. Instead of the cakes, Hannah found something a lot more dangerous. A dragon's egg sitting in a pot near the fireplace. She stuttered for words. "Hag-Hagrid why on earth do you have a dragon's egg in this- may I say it- _wooden_ hut?" Hagrid smiled, not seeming to get the fact that having a dragon probably wasn't the best thing. "I got 'im yesterday! Bet a man 'n the pub at cards, gave im' to me, and 'e said he was a good breed too!"

Hannah was mortified. She had befriended Susan Bones, whose aunty worked at the ministry, so Hannah had reason to think that the egg was most probably illegal. Everywhere. In the world.

Hagrid was still looking quite pleased with himself, and although Hannah hated to do it, she had to ask him what was going on. Hannah waved him down to the table in the middle of the hut, and sat down opposite to her hairy friend.

"Alright Hagrid. What's going on with the dragon?" Hagrid fidgeted under Hannah's less than forgiving gaze.

"Uh. Well, I wen' down t' the pub, like I said, an' I went inside to find a table, when a man wit' a hood on waves me over to 'is table. I sit down with 'im, and 'e offers a dragon egg to me if I played cards wit' im'. I agreed, an' there we were talking to each other-" Hannah interrupted him. "What did he ask about Hagrid?" Hagrid paused to remember. "Uh- 'e asked about Fluffy- Oh. I shouldn't a told ya that." Hannah stared intensely at him. "Who's Fluffy?"

Hagrid looked down from her gaze. "E's my dog! My three headed dog!" Hannah raised an eyebrow. "A Cerberus? But where are you keeping it? And why did you call it Fluffy?" Hagrid looked like he was about to cry from spilling all the secrets. "Dumbledore's got him as protection for the Philosophers- Oh. I shouldn't a told ya that either. Secret Hogwarts business, that is."

Hannah put her hands in the air. "Fine. I'm going to leave before you drag me into any more interesting secrets that I'm not supposed to know." She smiled at Hagrid as she left, to let him know that everything was fine between them.

Hannah called all the members of the Marauding Four to the library. The four of them sat in a circle. Hannah stood up and addressed the-uh- crowd? Anyway. She addressed the crowd formally. "We are gathered together today to find out what the other half of the 'philosophers' is. Some hints that Hagrid mentioned were that it was being guarded. Why would it be guarded? All good questions that we will soon find out. If we research properly." Hermione perked up at this.

Harry rolled his eyes at Hannah's stupidness. She could be pretty cool when she tried.

The four of them, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Hannah sat at the library desks, poring over any books that could give them any hints about this Philosopher. An hour later, Hermione suddenly jumped up with a yell, only to be shushed by Mrs. Pince.

Everyone gathered around her. Hermione pointed to something on the page she was on, and Hannah gasped. "Of course! The Philosophers stone! It makes sense now!" Ron raised his hand in a mock question. "Uh. How does that make sense?"

Hermione looked enthused about answering. "It makes sense because the Philosophers stone is a magical object that produces an Elixir, which is also known as the Elixir of Life. It would give you unlimited life, and it also produces unlimited gold, which could give you a lot of power."

Harry suddenly got the idea of it. "So, this thing is being protected because it could give anyone limitless life, and unlimited gold. But why has Dumbledore hidden it? And in a school for that matter."

Hannah read the page of the book out loud. "The Philosophers stone is currently in possession of its creator, Nicholas Flamel, who is at the moment about 650 years old. Flamel has also worked with Albus Dumbledore to create the 12 uses of dragon blood, which was undeniably helpful to the wizarding world. Nicholas is close friends with Dumbledore, and they are thought to be working on many different things together."

Hermione nodded. "Dumbledore probably had Nicholas Flamel ask him to keep it safe for him, since Mr. Flamel must have thought it might be stolen. Dumbledore agreed, and is now keeping it safe for Flamel." Ron smiled. "I get it now."

A week later, Harry, Ron, Hannah and Hermione all left to go home for Christmas. They said their goodbyes as they stepped off the trains, and all got buried in their parents embrace.

Violet ran up to Harry. "How are you Harry?" She said softly as she gave him a hug. Harry smiled, and said, "I'm brilliant, thanks for asking." Before picking her up, and lugging her and his trunk to the car.

 _A/N_

 _Hi guys! Hope you all had a great Easter, I certainly did. Sorry for the lateness of my chapter this week, writers block strikes again! Any ideas for what Harry and co get up to this Christmas would be appreciated! Remember, reviews make my little world go round!_


	10. Christmas, Part 1

Chapter 10- Christmas, Part 1

The first thing that Harry heard when he walked in to his house was laughter.

The first thing he saw was splatters of paint across the walls.

When Harry had finally came across the scene of the crime in the lounge room, the battle of wills was almost finished. Uncle Sirius was threatening to drop a bucket of paint on… someone's head, he couldn't see because they were turned with their back to him, and the person was laughing almost evilly at him, threatening to throw another paint bomb. There were splatters of paint _everywhere_.

Harry chuckled in his head. Luckily he was used to this, and since he didn't want anyone getting in trouble for getting paint on the walls, he decided to defuse the situation now, before the entire house was blue, or something ridiculous like that.

"Alright. What _are_ you two doing?"

Uncle Sirius almost chocked on his own spit as he suddenly realised there was a witness to this crime, and unbeknownst to Harry, the person he couldn't see was rolling his eyes at the dramatics.

Uncle Sirius threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine. I'll clean up. Remus, get off your lazy butt and help me, would you?"

Uncle Remus got up from where he was sitting with his back to Harry, and smiled at Harry. "Hope you're still in one piece after your first semester of Hogwarts. We'll talk about it later, but right now," He said, waving his wand as Sirius grumbled spells under his breath. "I have got to clean up before your mother busts me and Sirius."

Harry smiled sympathetically, knowing what it felt like to be under Lily Potter's glare. He turned his back on the mess that was lounge room, and went to go tell his Mum and Dad everything about Hogwarts.

A couple of stories later, in the Potters kitchen.

"And then the troll came around the corner, with Ron and Hermione running wildly in front of it, and we all just got down to the Hufflepuff common room before McGonagall and Snape came to stop it." Lily frowned at the end of the Harry's story. Violet was cheering with Daisy, and James was cheering alongside them, until Lily shot him a glare, and James cleared his throat, to signal he was going to speak.

"Well, uh, Harry, that was certainly an interesting story. But, just asking, why was there a troll in the school anyways?" Harry looked a bit uneasy about that. "Well, I don't think Fur- I mean McGonagall or Dumbledore knew why. They just seem kind of confused in the morning, when they told us which bits of the castle had been damaged."

Lily was now just _slightly_ enraged. How dare they put her child in danger like that? She as going to march right up to Dumbledore and tell him-

"Lily." James' voice stopped her tirade in her own head. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, and looked at him. "What?" "Well, since I know what you're thinking, I'm just going to say, you probably shouldn't do that."

A chuckle in the doorway caused them all to look. Sirius was looking at James with a funny look on his face. "Ah hah! He said, and then looked down to the three children, who were looking quite confused. "Your father is finally being a responsible human being! I thought this day would never come."

Harry laughed, and was shot a glare by James, who was barely managing to keep a stern look on his face himself. Sirius was still laughing, and James immediately whined, "Sirius! Shut up you idiot! You're making me look like an idiot in front of the kids!"

Remus rolled his eyes as he walked into the room, and sat down next to Lily. "Sometimes I want to just leave these gits." Lily scoffed. "At least you aren't married to one of them! I'm stuck with that idiot!" She gestured to James, who was still whining dramatically. Remus smiled, and Lily sighed, and said, "I really need to go and talk to Dumbledore about his teaching standards. Want to come?" Remus laughed. "Of course I will. Let's leave the entertainers to their business." He held out his arm. "Shall we go interrogate Dumbledore now?"

Lily nodded, and looped her arm through his. She called out to James. "Honey, I'm off to go yell at Dumbledore!" before they went off to the fireplace, to floo Dumbledore, and rip him a new one.

While Lily and Remus were yelling at a stunned Dumbledore, James, Sirius, Violet, Daisy and Harry were sitting in the kitchen again, waiting for Sirius' wife to come through the floo. "She's got an important work meeting." Sirius had said as a response to all the questions that the children (and James) had asked.

Although Harry was still puzzled over that. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Even though Uncle Sirius didn't have kids, it didn't seem fair.

James sighed. "So, what do you kids want from Santa?" He winked at Harry, who had been told last year that Santa was, in fact, not real.

Violet suddenly got very excited. "Oh! Oh! Did I tell you and Mummy about the Doll I wanted? Oh! And the book I wanted!"

James chuckled. "Yes honey, you've told me and Mum many times."

Daisy smiled at Violet, and then turned to her father. "I bet you remember that I wanted a new broomstick?"

James smiled widely at her. She seemed to be the only one in the family who was remotely interested in Quidditch. "Of course I did dear. And since you and Violet have been quite good this year, I'm sure you'll get what you want."

Violet turned to Harry. "What do you want Harry?"

Harry mulled over this for a second, and then answered. "I want, well I want a wand holster, since those seem kinda handy, or like, something to communicate with you guys." Harry's voice went slightly mumbled at this point. (He was only 11, after all.) "Since- well- I'm missing you guys, and letters- they don't feel the same as seeing you now."

Sirius smiled and put his arm around Harry's shoulders. "You're a good kid Harry. I'm sure Santa-" He winked at Harry again, "Will be able to find you something."

Harry looked up at Sirius, in all his leather-jacketed, dramatic, glory, and nodded.

When the next morning came, Harry was still fast asleep at 6 o'clock in the morning, when Daisy suddenly burst into his messy room, and dodged all the stuff on the floor, before shouting in his face, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS HARRY!"

Harry fell on the floor.

He grumbled, and then realised what day it was.

Harry rushed down the stairs from the bedrooms, hand-in-hand with Violet, to find the living room in such a Christmassy state, you would be hard pressed to see it as the same one they had yesterday.

Violet ran into the living room with Daisy, while Harry went to go see where his parents were. Lucky for him, they were only in the kitchen, so he took them both by the hand, and brought them into the lounge.

Violet opened up her gifts in the light of the fireplace. She squealed when she saw the doll she wanted, and squealed even more when she got the book she had wanted.

Daisy was led to a broom-shaped package, and almost reached screaming levels when she opened it to find a new broom.

Harry nervously ripped open the wrapping paper on his present. He nodded in approval when he saw the wand holster, and underneath the wand holster was… a mirror?

Harry looked towards his mother, who explained for him. "It's a communication mirror. Your father and I have one each, and so do Uncle Sirius and Remus. Any time you want to talk to any of us about something, you just say either of our names into it, and we will appear!"

Harry smiled widely at that, and gave his parents a hug.

Christmas dinner was always a big affair in the Potter house. James always seemed to find a new way to decorate the house, and Lily never failed to cook some delicious food.

This year, since Sirius was bringing along his new wife, it would be even bigger. (If only by one person)

Later, everybody had arrived and sat down at the table apart from a certain wife of Sirius'.

Sirius had frowned, and went to go get her through the floo. While they waited, Lily served the turkey and potatoes on to the table.

When Sirius returned with his wife, he introduced, "Amelia Bones- Black." Amelia was a tall woman with red hair. She smiled at everyone, and they sat back down at the table to have a meal for kings.

A/N

I'm planning to make a couple of Christmases, 1 for every person in the Marauding 4.

Also, a quick thank-you to JeanandBilius, for being generally lovely.


	11. When Ginny Loves Neville

A/N- Thank you to JeanandBilius, for being my saving grace with is wonderful reviews :)

The first thing Ron saw when he got home was, well, his normal house. Pretty much, anyway. Ginny was sitting on the couch looking rather miffed about something, (and strangely dressed up…) and Fred and George were behind her with a balloon filled with air. Ron wanted to watch this play out. He ran hurriedly upstairs and chucked his bag on an extremely orange bed, and went back downstairs to get an apple. He laughed in his head as he sat down on one of the comfier wooden stools nearby the soon to be scene of the crime.

George was just about to open the tip of the balloon, when it was suddenly snatched out of their hands by a pair of angry hands, and a frowning face. "What are you boys doing _this_ time?" Fred and George suddenly straightened up, and Ron thought to himself that this was going to be a lot better than pranking Ginny.

George leaned back on his heels nervously, and looked to Fred to go first. Fred put his arms out wide. "Nothing, of course dearest mother."

Molly Weasley looked sternly at the two of them, and Ginny was trying very hard not to laugh in the background. (And failing miserably.)

Ron sat back, and thought, _well, this is home._

After getting told off, Fred and George went up to their room with Ron. Fred and George sat down on their respective beds, and George cocked his head to one side. "So, younger brother, what's with the Troll episode?" Ron held his hands up in the air.

"It wasn't my fault this time, really." Fred scoffed dramatically, and gave him something in a box. Ron raised his eyebrows, and Fred shrugged. "You'll find out later."

Ron rolled his eyes, and leaned back onto the wall behind him. "So, what's up with Ginny today?" George shifted uncomfortably on his bed. "Well, uh, you know how she's got this thing for Neville and or The Boy Who Lived?"

Ron nodded. It was a subject their family liked to avoid, for obvious reasons. Fred continued on from his twin. "Well, um, she heard that you were friends with him, and she freaked out, thinking that he was going to come to our house with you." George motioned downstairs, and continued Fred's sentence.

"And, well, she then somehow believed that… uh. Well, she thought that Neville was somehow going here just for her. So she got all dressed up, and then she was told by mum that she was being ridiculous, which she was, so Ginny threw a tantrum, and stayed home all day."

Ron would have laughed, if he didn't know how ridiculously serious this was. Ginny had, like the rest of the wizarding world's girls her age, gotten a set of books entitled "The Boy Who Lived's Adventures!" but, unlike the rest of the world, who had slowly realized how silly it all was, Ginny had buried herself in her books. She had never realized how silly the adventures of the boy who lived were. Ginny still hung out with the rest of the family, of course, but ever since she had gotten those books, she hadn't been the same happy person she used to.

It was all quite concerning, really.

So instead of laughing, Ron felt like crying. It was so ridiculous! But Ginny was obsessed with those books, and their mum had tried before to take them, but the morning after, Ginny would always find a way to take them back.

Fred shook his head. "Nobody really knows what to do anymore." Ron nodded at the statement. Nobody did really know what to do with Ginny anymore.

Suddenly, George sprung up from his bed, and rushed to the bookcase in the corner of their room. He snatched one of the larger books, and sat down hurriedly. "What-" Ron tried to say, before being cut off by a short, "Aha!" From George, and a sudden book being shoved into his vision.

George pointed out a certain paragraph, and Ron read it out loud.

" _The Invisibility spell. If you want to hide something, point your wand, and say the words: Caecus (pronounced Cay-cous), and your item will be gone until you say the counter spell."_

Ron dropped the book, and punched his fist in the air, before thinking of an obvious problem. "Wait. Won't we get in trouble from the Ministry if we do magic?"

Fred waved his hand in the air, as if he was waving Ron's protests away. "But this weekend, we've got Bill, since its Christmas. So, all we have to do is convince our brother to do something for the good of the family, and Ginny." George murmured his agreement.

Ron sighed in relief. Rule number one of anything- The perfect plan could always be ruined by a simple thing. "So when are we killing off the books?" George then cackled evilly. "Christmas Eve."

The three boys continued plotting their sister's books demise.

Now they just had the eas- I mean hard task of convincing Bill Weasley to charm their little sisters books to be invisible.

Ron knocked softly on Bill's door, and heard an even softer, "Come in!" From the other side.

Ron tiptoed inside, since the setting seemed to be for something dramatic. Bill raised an eyebrow at him, and then waved him over to his bed. He pointed to something round that was floating in front of him, and began speaking enthusiastically about it.

"See that ball there? I've been holding it up with magic for 12 hours." Ron nodded, not really getting where this was going. Bill continued. "Well, you see, this goblin that I work with bet me 20 galleons that I couldn't hold it up for 28 hours without it dropping to the floor."

Ron nodded again, understanding what he meant. This could be a complication to their plan. If Bill was holding this random ball in the air for… 16 more hours? Then they wouldn't be able to make Ginny's books invisible!

Oh dear. Ron approached the bed carefully, and sat down next to Bill. Ron motioned towards the ball. "What happens if you don't hold the ball up in the air for 28 hours?" Bill shrugged. "The goblin said that I had to give him 20 galleons, so I guess I'd better hold this in the air, eh Ron?"

Ron panicked in his head, and so he began to speak to Bill rapidly about what they were doing with their plan to help Ginny. At the end of Ron's spiel, Bill was so surprised he dropped the ball he was floating. Bill swore under his breath, and then smiled at Ron.

"Oh well, I guess I can always start again. What do you need me to do with Ginny's books?"

It was Christmas Eve, and the Weasley house was as quiet as a mouse. Apart from the fact that two idiots were creeping down the stairs to hide some 'precious' books.

Nobody knew anything of what they did that night, and the house was quiet until morning, when a single scream woke the entire house up.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Ginny shrieked as she tore the cushions off the chairs, when she began to look for her beloved books.

Molly came down the stairs, with her hands in the air. "What are you doing?" she said to a frantic Ginny.

"Someone stole my books!" Ginny squealed, looking like she was going to burst into tears. In her head, Molly was jumping for joy, but on the outside, she had to look like a concerned mother. "Have you looked everywhere?" She asked.

Ginny sighed, and flopped onto the couch. "Yes! Of course I have." Molly sighed. "Well, you'll just have to live without them now." Ginny's bottom lip shook, and she flew up the stairs to her room.

Molly sighed happily, and called to her children, "CHRISTMAS! COME ON KIDS!"

Everybody bounded downstairs (Except for Ginny…) and rushed to their presents.

Ron got some muggle joke books from Hermione, some nice flowers from Hannah, and… a book of Quidditch from Harry.

Ron suddenly jumped up from where he was kneeling. "Bloody Hell!" He said, and rushed upstairs to his room. He had forgotten to send Harry his present!

Ron grabbed dirty old Errol, and quickly tied the parcel to the bird's leg, sending it off to fly to Harry. (But not before Errol bumped into the window.)


End file.
